


Swimming Lesson

by RavensSplashing (lukewarmravensinatub)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Boys In Love, Dark, Emotional Manipulation, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Minor Character Death, Minor Original Character(s), Polyamory, Sleepy Boys
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-12
Updated: 2017-06-29
Packaged: 2018-10-17 12:46:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10594317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lukewarmravensinatub/pseuds/RavensSplashing
Summary: Shiro lost not just one boyfriend to the Galra, buttwo.





	1. Gone

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys.
> 
> Welcome to my mind.
> 
> I don't think you'll want to stay for long.

The hour after the mission was probably the hardest.

What was he going to do?

Things like this didn’t just happen on Earth. And he doubted this was a common occurrence around the galaxy either.

Shiro lost not just one boyfriend to the Galra, but _two_ , and the very real possibility that they weren’t coming back was high.

Keith and Lance were _gone_.

To make it worse, Allura could have saved them. Shiro could have saved them. Allura knew, Allura was the only one who could have possibly seen them disappear, but she didn’t react.

She didn’t even tell Shiro until after he had returned.

And by that time, it was too late.

Hunk was in angry tears, excusing himself to the kitchen the first chance he got.

Pidge was oddly quiet, and disappeared soon after. Coran did the same, although it is more out of determination to reclaim them than sadness.

Shiro gave a sad look to Allura, before quietly going back to his now empty room.

He chokes when he sees their jackets draped over their bed like nothing happened, and their owners are waiting for them to strip from their paladin armor and wear them again once the battle was over.

Keith had lain his over Lance's, as Shiro vividly remembers, before throwing himself on the other boy and tackling him to the ground.

They had both found out recently about Lance's _opinions_ (they didn’t have another word for it) of himself, so both men took any chance they got to tell their boyfriend how much he meant to them.

"Say it!" When Lance didn't respond, Keith laughed. Shiro wondered what had happened to put him in such a good mood. "Goddamnit, say it Lance!" Keith pinned Lance's hands above his head with one of his own, while the other lightly scratched Lance in an attempt to tickle him. It was useless.

All three of them knew Keith was terrible at tickling.

Still, Keith knew all of Lance's weaknesses, and pressed every one, leaving Lance breathless. "N-No, you bastard! You get off of me-!"

"Say it, Lance!" Keith moved too fast for Lance to react and blew a raspberry into Lance's stomach, which was starkly out of character for him.  
"Say it, Lance." Shiro sighed with a grin.

Lance groaned. "Uhg, I-" Keith smirked at him, and Lance stuck his tongue out at him. "I'm the best, and I can do this, and we can win."

Keith and Shiro exchanged a look. "We need the whole sentence, this time."

Keith pulled on Lance's arms.

Lance rolled his eyes, but couldn't stop himself from grinning. "I'm the best, and I can do this, and we can't win without me."

Keith smiled. "No, we can't." He gave a kiss to Lance's nose.

Shiro laughed and pulled Keith up. A hand stretched out to Lance.

 _His boys_ , his mind supplied when he placed a kiss on both of their foreheads.

 _His boys were gone,_ his mind shouts at him now.

He quietly shakes.

Shiro doesn't know what to do.

He's the head of Voltron, he should be able to do this, and he can't think of what to do to save them.

Shiro slowly pads over their bed. It's tall. He used to think that it was a good thing, whenever Keith or Lance had trouble at night, he had an excuse to squeeze their asses when he lifted them up. No matter how many half-hearted slaps he got, they were always laced with flushes and smiles that always made him feel a little happy inside.

Now it was just hard to get into bed.  
Shiro lifted a leg to push himself up, but found he didn't have the strength.  
Shiro fell, and finally let the tears he’d holding in, out.

Keith, Lance, the best things to ever happen to him, were gone. Not dead, but as close to it as they could get.

How had he not seen it? The fleet had appeared out of nowhere, and completely ignored the Green and Yellow Lions, not to even beginning to think about the Castle, and went straight for Keith, Lance, Shiro; of course.

Take out Red, there wouldn't be another pilot to take Keith's place, with the nature of the lion being so stubborn.

Blue was more of a challenge. The Blue Lion was naturally accepting, so there were no problems finding another pilot, but God knows that Lance was a fierce fighter.

" _My little Sharpshooter,_ " Shiro had murmured one night, Lance on his chest, drooling and blissed-out.

"That's right." Keith'd echoed. "So brave." He kissed Lance's shoulder. "So pretty."

Shiro lived for moments like these; away from everyone else on the Castle, with one of them on his shoulder, hair mussed and face flushed.

Lance hiccuped. "'m not the pretty one..." _Hic_. "Mullet head has stupid, pretty eyes, and Shiro is... so strong."

He snuggled down further into Shiro's arms.

Keith had giggled. Shiro had smiled and pressed a kiss to Lance's forehead.

"Go to sleep, sweetheart."

Lance hiccuped. "Keith needs to have Shiro-love too."

Just when Shiro didn't think that his heart could have swelled any larger.

He shifted Lance over and pulled Keith's head down onto his chest.

"Better?"

"Fantastic," Both boys murmured.  
The memory brought a wave of fresh tears to his eyes.

Shiro was the head of Voltron. The leader. Their third. He was supposed to look out for his boyfriends, his partners, and his teammates.

Why didn't the Galra go for him?

He covered his face with his hands.

The motion disturbed something on the bed, which even from Shiro's perspective was perched dangerously.

Shiro removed his hands and, still letting tears fall from his face, Shiro let his hands roam above his head across the sheets. When they found something, it only seemed to disturb the original item more, before falling on his lap. He grabbed the second item off the bed, pulling it into his lap as well.

Their jackets.

Lance's had fallen into his lap while Shiro had grabbed Keith's.

His breath hitched.

Shiro's thumbs ran over the smooth leather of Keith's sleeves, before fingering the starkly different feel of Lance's, almost like canvas.

Oh, God.

He bit his lip. Keith's smell (lemongrass and something masculine, though he hadn't ever been able to place it), sure enough, was rubbed into the fabric.

Shiro quietly put the jacket down and brought it to his nose.  
Lance.

It was like he was right next to Shiro.

_No, no, no!_

Lance was so much sweeter than Keith, so it was rightly so that his smell was almost as good as, no, better than walking into a patisserie.

A loud knocking noise interrupted his thoughts.

"S-Shiro? Are you, fuck, of course you in there. Let me in." A pause. "Please."  
Pidge.

She knew what it was like to lose someone. Or, two.

Shiro took a deep breath in. He needed to get it together, or they would never find Keith and Lance.

"Come in, Pidge." The strength of his voice surprised him. Where had that come from?

His, _their_ door slid open with a hiss.

"Shiro?" Pidge repeated while turning the corner.

"I'm here, Pidge." Shiro answered. He set their (they would be coming back for them) jackets back on the bed.

God, he probably looked terrible didn't he?

Pidge leaned in the doorway."You know that you aren't alone, right? I'm here too."

"I know you are." He gave a half-hearted laugh, accompanied by a sniff.

Oops.

She tensed. "And Allura-"

Shiro copied her. "I don't care about Allura, currently." He frowned.

Pidge crossed her arms. "You're not the only one hurting, you know."

Shiro rubbed his eyes. "I know, Pidge."  
She looked down.

And then there was silence.

He fucked up.

Of course he wasn't the only one hurting. Hunk was Lance's best friend.

Pidge was like a little sister to all of them. She was probably terrified too.  
What were they going to do?  
Keith and Lance were stuck in Galra hands, that was already enough.

But they were also paladins of Voltron, which put them in even more danger.

Haggar and her druids had probably had them for an hour or two, which was far too long already.

Even after the defeat of Zarkon, the team was weak. They had only just gotten him back. What were they going to do with two more missing paladins?

And two missing Lions?

He felt like a cold knife had stabbed through his chest.

The Galra had the Lions.

And the Galra had druids.

No. No, no, no.

They wouldn't. Not Lance, not Keith. His boys would be fine. His boys would be safe. Keith and Lance would come back just fine and-

"It's just not fair!" Pidge hit the wall next to her. "We only just got you back, and you three were finally happy, and now they’re gone and they're gonna get hurt and-" The rest of her words were cut off into sobs.

Oh, no.

"Pidge..." Shiro tried to reach out for her, but she slapped his hand away. "And now the Galra have the lions and Zarkon's dead but that witch might do something to them, and now..." Seems like Pidge had drawn the same conclusions he had.

Shiro pulled her down next to him. "It's just like Matt and Dad." She whispered.  
Shiro's breath hitched. Pidge knew what he was going through.

* * *

Keith wasn't going to let a single Galra touch Lance again.

Immediately after they had been captured, and the fleet had sped away from the Castle, they had been separated.

Now, without their bayards, and stripped of their armor, they had been thrown into a cell together.

Lance was now shivering against his side, arm broken and eye already starting to bruise.

It was his fault.

Keith, stupidly, had fought the guards.  
They had warned him that they had direct contact to Lance's soldiers, but Keith hadn't listened.

That was until he heard him through the not-so thick Galra walls.

And now, Lance was hurt.

Keith pulled Lance into his lap, slowly running his fingers through the brunette's hair.

Chants of: "I'm so sorry, baby". "They won't touch you again. I promise." "I'll make sure that they will stay away from you," and "Shiro's coming to get us." rang though the cell.

Lance never said anything, breathing slowly and shivering.

* * *

“Yes,” Shiro gulped. Pidge knew what he was going through, right? “It is. It’s exactly like Commander Holt and Matt.” Pidge looked up at him, almost like she wanted to slap him, but Shiro pressed on. “But you’re looking for them right? And you’re going to help me look for them too?”

Pidge nodded.

Shiro gave her a small smile, albeit weakly. “And everything’s going to turn out okay, yeah?”

Pidge’s lips trembled as she spoke. “Yeah.”

* * *

"Red Paladin."

Keith startled awake, with Lance still pressed to his chest. They had fallen asleep.

He looked around for the source of the voice, only for his eyes to fall outside the cell. Two guards were standing outside, along with a druid.

Keith hissed and tightened his grip on Lance. "What do you want?"

The druid smiled (from what he could see) on the other side of the cell. “We wish to talk to you.”

He scowled and put a hand on Lance’s (who was now awake) hip. “Never.”

“No harm will come to you, or the Blue Paladin, if you come with me peacefully.”

Keith knew better than agree to a deal like that. “Ha! You wish!”

“However, if you do not come.” The druid replied. “I fear that the Blueling will see more harm than either of us see fit.”

The soldiers behind them placed a hand each on their weapon.

Keith’s eyes widened.

“No, Keith.” Lance pulled on Keith’s collar with his hand. He was surprisingly strong, although his face was crinkled in pain. “I can take whatever they got, no problem.”

The moment the words left his lips, Lance’s body jolted. He groaned, but didn’t seem to be in too much pain.  
Keith grabbed Lance’s arms. “Lance? What’s going on?"

“It's a new spell Haggar wished to try out.” The druid spoke quietly. “Any disobedience from either of you will result in serious pain on the Blueling’s side.”

Keith snarled as the druid continued to talk. He was spewing practically gibberish to Keith’s ears, until the words ‘mark’ reached his ears and a flash of purple caught his eye.

He pulled Lance’s collar down. Sure enough, a large purple mark that probably read some Galra junk was over his heart.

“Red Paladin.” The druid called again.

Lance dug the fingers of his good arm into Keith’s side. “No, no, no, Keith-”

He quietly pulled Lance off him, ignoring the shrieks and protests given by the other boy.

Keith made sure Lance was propped up against a wall, so that he could defend himself. That fact, unfortunately backfired.

Lance punched him. Right across the face. “Keith, you bastard, don’t you dare leave-”

Keith sighed, ignoring the pain from the shot, (and the pride at knowing that he taught Lance how to punch like that) he kissed his boyfriend’s forehead and stood.

“No, no, no, Keith! Don’t listen to them! They’re gonna hurt you-!”

So what if they did? At least Lance was safe.

* * *

Allura pointed to a pinprick on a map.

"There is where the fleet was."  
Shiro crossed his arms. "So? Where did they go?"

“We don’t know.” Hunk said.  
Allura pulled at her hair. “I’ve never seen a fleet of ships move so fast before, it would be hard to know if they were even in this galaxy.”

Shiro scowled. “Don’t say that. They will be found. They’re somewhere.”

“Shiro is right.” Pidge chimed. “We need to get Keith and Lance back as soon as possible.”

“That may be harder than you think,” Allura said quietly. “Now that Zarkon is dead, someone will have to take over the empire. It could be Haggar, but who _knows_ what Zarkon has done in the last ten thousand years.”

“So, what kind of plan do you have right now, Princess?” Hunk asked.

“I…” Allura said quietly. “I don’t have one yet.”

Shiro scowled, and opened his mouth, but was interrupted.

“I hate interrupt you, paladins, but we’ve gotten a call.” Coran poked his head out from the hallway that lead to the bridge.

“It’s no problem, Coran.” Allura smiled.

“From who?”

“The Hyxrvenas.”

“Slav’s species?” Pidge crosses her arms.

“Precisely, Number 5.” Coran nodded. "They heard about 2 and 4.”

Shiro bristled. “What do they want?”

“To help us! They are offering their best mathematicians and strategists for our disposal.”

“Wonderful!” Allura smiled and placed a hand on Hunk and Shiro. “We could use all the help we could get.”

Hunk nodded. “Totally.”

Shiro didn't reply, but the look he got from Allura was enough to keep him from walking away.

* * *

Galra ships were big, Keith observed as the guards made him kneel. He’d better start figuring out his way around.

“Red Paladin.” Haggar sneered as she walked forward, towards Keith. “Did you have to use the spell? She turned towards the other druids.

“Once. Not counting the tests.”  
Tests? Was that why Lance’s arm was broken? Is that why he thought he could take the druid’s magic on? Is that why Keith heard him screaming?

Even though Keith definitely wanted to yell, he kept his mouth shut. For Lance.

“Paladin.” Haggar strode closer. “How are you?”

“As well as I will ever be, you bastar-” Keith wasn’t allowed to finish.

Pain cursed through his system as the guard behind him hit him with something. Keith had the urge make noise, but bit his tongue. He wouldn't let this monster see him cry, or scream, for that matter.

Despite his efforts, he was sure he showed something, because the guards stepped away from him.

"I do not want to hurt you, Red Paladin." Haggar hid her hands behind her back.

"But hurting Lance is okay?" He snapped.

"The Blue Palaldin can be replaced." She spoke slowly. "But you are special, Red Paladin."

Fuck this. "No I'm not!"

"Do you know that we have your Lions?"

Keith felt like his heart had jumped out of his chest. "Red?"

"You are special, Red Paladin. Did your princess," She gave a sneer. "ever tell you the qualities of your Lions?"

Keith didn't answer. He wouldn't tell them anything about Red, or Voltron.

He had to keep everyone safe.

The witch didn't seem to be bothered by the lack of response. "How the Red Lion is the most stubborn?" She said it more like a statement than answer. "Or how there can be only one Red Paladin at a time, while the Blue can be replaced?" Smirk. "Very easily, I might add."

"No," Keith whispered. She wouldn't.

"Red Paladin," Haggar continued. "I have a deal for you."

Fuck. No, fuck, fuck, Fuck, FUCK.

"The Blue Paladin may live, but in return I get to see what makes you tick."

* * *

Keith had been gone too long.

Lance fidgeted. He hadn't bothered to move from the spot where Keith had left him, at first, because he was hurting, but as time went on, it was mostly because he was cold without Keith's body heat.

He got that Galras were ruthless monsters, but couldn't they afford heaters? Were the Galra too dense to realize that space was cold?  
God.

* * *

Lance missed Shiro.  
Shiro was a good pillow. Unlike Keith, who was a space heater when he was sleeping.

Pun very much intended.

And he always wanted to spoon Lance, which usually meant that Shiro got and entire side of the of bed, while Lance was smothered by mullet head.

 

 

  
  
#FuckKeith2k17

 

Lance sighed. He didn’t mean that.

* * *

But, really, where was Keith? He'd been gone for too long.

Oh god, now he was repeating himself.

Lance scraped the nails of his good hand along the floor. They came up covered in dirt.

Lance recoiled and pulled his injured arm to his lap. Where the bone had broken, it had broken skin. Thankfully, the bone wasn't anywhere near his skin (Lance did not want to see that), but he still couldn't let his cut get infected.

* * *

Lance breathed in, trying to calm the knot in his stomach.

Lance breathed out, because he had held the breathe too long and he was dizzy.

He was going to be okay. Keith was too. Shiro was going to come for him, or Blue was going to break him out of here. He only had to wait.

* * *

 

Unfortunately, waiting had never been easy for Lance. He was nervous and jittery, praying for Keith to come back, and food, and warmth, and Hunk's cooking and—

A sudden gasp echoed through the cell.

"A warrior of Voltron!"

Lance jerked. That voice wasn't Galran.

He swiftly turned, only to be met with the eyes of a creature that looked very much like Slav.


	2. Oh, no

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance learns that his case might not be so special.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GIVE LOVE TO @Wildrose_007 FOR BEING FREAKING FANTASTIC

Lance gasped. He hadn't know that there were other creatures on this ship. He knew that whatever kind of spaceship this was wasn't very big. He also knew that Haggar and her druids were on the ship, but he was sure that was a trick to keep Shiro and the Castle away. Why keep two of the empire's greatest enemies on a miniscule part of the Galra fleet? Why not take them straight to Zarkon?

Another creature of the same species poked their head out from behind the first. "You're right!" They gasped. "How did a paladin of Voltron get here?"

A third creature, smaller than the others, but still looking Slav-ish moved to occupy the space next to their... sister? They  _looked_ feminine.

The third looked skeptical.  _"Are you sure?_ It is highly unlikely that a paladin would be here."

The second hushed the third. "Hello? Human, can you hear me?"

Lance shook his head. "How did you know...?"

The first looked excited. "We were there when you returned Slav to us! You look just like the handsome Blue Paladin at the party!"

Lance chuckled shakily. Damn, his arm really hurt. "Oh, I-"

"You danced with my sister!" The second cried out. "She was so excited afterwards, that she had to go home from curricular!"

Lance remembered that. Shiro and Keith had been pretty jealous afterwards, especially when the girl tried to tell Lance how 'heroic he had been'. Lance tried to voice the thoughts running through his head,  _"Oh, yeah. Your sister, I remember her. She was a nice girl."_ But instead, all that came out was  "Curricular?"

The third shook their head and sat(?) back down to the first. "Sometimes in the common language it is called school."

 _"School?"_ Lance gaped. "How old are you?"

"Let me see," The second moved next to the cell bars so that they could talk to Lance better. "In earthen years," She paused, thinking. "I would be twelve. Sha," They pointed to the first, "Would be nine, and Akari," They pointed to the third. "Would be seventeen." They paused, rubbing her chin. "Although, we are much younger by your standards. I have seen 4 cycles around our star since birth." They looked at Lance. "Why do you ask, paladin?"

Lance hiccuped. That always happened when he was nervous. "You're just kids!"

They shrugged (with four arms). "I have seen much younger in Galra captivity."

Lance shook his head. "We need to get you home-, how did you even get here?"

The first, who the third had called Sha, blinked. "We were captured."

Lance shook his head, before biting his lip in pain. Had he gotten dirt in his cut? Goddamn, it  _hurt._ "I mean, were you taken off the planet, or?"

"Our family was on vacation." The third, Akari? The second had done some weird noise on the 'k'. "We were in a shuttle, and we needed food. Our parents docked in a port, and suddenly a small Galran ship appeared, and stole our shuttle, with us in it."

That sounded much like what happened to him and Keith. "You're siblings?"

"Step siblings." The second pursed their lips. "I assume you don't know what that is?"

"No! I do!" Lance moved so that he could see their cell across the hall better. "My parents divorced when I was a kid. My dad remarried, and now I have a super rad older sister." He grinned sheepishly. "Well, another one."

Sha deflated. "We miss our older sister. The one you danced with, at the party? She would sing to us at bed. She's really only related to Keake though." The youngest sadly pointed to the second.

"I miss my family too." Lance said quietly. "I miss them everyday. And because the universe decided that wasn't enough, now I get to miss Shiro, my boyfriend, too." Lance looked down. "I know that you probably want me to say something encouraging 'cause I'm a paladin, but I don't have anything." He sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Boyfriend? Is that a lover?" The second, now know as Keake asked.

"That's right!" Lance winked. "He's super hot, too. You guys would be jealous."

"His name is Shiro?" Akari asked.

"Actually, it's Takashi Shirogane, but Keith is the only one who calls him that, so yeah, his name is Shiro." Lance looked proud of himself.

Sha gasped. "The Champion!"

Lance raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, but he's also the leader of Voltron, so I wouldn't mess-"

"And the way you talked to the Red Paladin, is he not your lover as well?" Akari demanded.

"Yes, Keith is my boyfriend too-"

Akari looked offended. She shook her head quietly and moved to the back of their cell.

Keake looked back at her sibling, then back to Lance, before shaking her head. "I'm sorry. Akari has been, eh-,  _cheated_ on before by a lover, so she has never taken well to multiple relationships at the same time."

Lance grimaced. Something was definitely wrong with his arm. "It's no problem. It's not the first time I've gotten that look, it won't be the last."

Keake smiled apologetically.

Sha, however, looked amazed. "You can have more than one lover?"

"I think you can. A lot of people disagree, though." Lance smiled at her, wince still on his face. Akari grunted from her corner.

Sha blushed. "I need to talk to Kei and Kal when I get home."

Lance grinned. Keake giggled nervously. "As long as mom and dad don't find out."

Sha gasped. They pulled themselves forward, then stuck their small head carefully through the bars of the cell. "Hey! Xiliena! Can you have more than one lover?"

Lance furrowed his brow.

A bellow, something that Lance couldn't understand, answered her.

_Where there more aliens?_

Lance swallowed, and dug the pain down. He tentatively reached out for the bars of the cage, ever so slowly reaching, before his hand made contact. He used the leverage to pull himself to the front of the cell. Say goodbye to his heat bubble.

Slowly, Lance looked to his left. 

Cells. Cells everywhere, extending around a corner on both sides to where he assumed where more cells.

Oh no.

Lance looked to his left. 

More. They ran on. And on. The only difference this time, was there was a staircase at the very end of the hall instead of a corner. That was the direction Keith had gone.

He gulped.

Oh no.

"We have estimated, and we think there are about seventy, to three hundred different species on this ship. They are all intelligent, from what we can tell, and there's multiple for every species." Keake said. "We don't know what the Galra trying to do. But we do think it has to do with the Red Paladin. We saw a creature go up those stairs accompanied by guards just after your lover disappeared."

Lance could feel his pulse in his throat. Oh no. 

Oh no.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate writing OCs into fics.
> 
> Short this time! Sorry, I couldn't connect the next two very well so I split them apart, so you might get a couple of medium length chapters through the next week.


	3. Thinking of Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro dreams about Lance, and Lance dreams about Keith. The only difference is one is real and one is not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have soft Shance

Shiro hadn't been scared of space until flight school.

Yes, he knew that space was dangerous. Yes, he knew that going to out into space was 1000x easier than coming back. Yes, he knew that coming back sometimes wasn't even an option.

But none of that was what scared him.

Shiro was scared of Matt and Samuel Holt coming with him.

Shiro was scared of the people he was leaving behind.

His parents, friends from the garrison, Keith, and if their stories were true, Shiro had freaked Lance and Pidge out pretty bad too.

When the countdown started, most astronauts he knew would have been praying for a safe return, or a relationship to come back to, or even a baby, if Milo hadn't lied to him.

But when the countdown started, Shiro remembered praying that he could get Matt and Dr. Holt home to Katie. He had prayed that he could come home to Keith, and that Keith wouldn't do anything too stupid.

That obviously hadn't worked.

After launch though, Shiro learned that maybe Commander Iverson hadn't been exaggerating when he said that Neptune's gravity could crush him. Or that Earth's solar system was of one in a million.

Passing Mars, a planet Shiro had only seen in simulations and photos, could've/would've/should've been the most exhilarating moment of his life.

And it was, until he passed Saturn.

Dr. Holt had practically dragged him out of bed, claiming, 'It's the only gas giant we'll see!'

Matt had helped him.

Together, all three of them were able to fill four full reports of the rings, and two on the planet's storms. The garrison wanted to see if anything had changed since the last flyby by humans.

After that, Shiro remembered space, more space, and then there was Kerberos.

Matt had called it a smol space rock. And it was. It was tiny. Shiro could have walked around the entire moon in less than four hours. And now, Shiro was still looking out into space, where he had been for almost three years.

Their room had a small window, near the bed, and was one of the reasons Shiro had picked it when Keith goaded Lance into convincing Shiro to move out with them.

In truth, Keith's room was beyond too small for all three of them. Getting changed, especially at the start of their relationship, was difficult, and left more than a few flushes and 'excuse-me's.

Not that Keith would ever feel bad about brushing asses with either one of them.

But.

Lance sighed something next to him, adam's apple bobbing, before he muttered something in Spanish.

_"...que? Carajo..."_

Shiro was spooning him, and Lance, was asleep. He smiled and kissed the top of Lance's forehead.

And then Keith kicked him.

Shiro 'oofed' a little, falling some onto Lance, before turning to see Keith pull more blanket's over his head and roll further into the wall.

Shiro smiled and rolled his eyes. He pushed his boyfriend's pillow a little closer to him, and pulled Lance back with him to lay next to Keith.

Lance groaned. Shiro kissed his forehead. It was the middle of the Castle's night cycle, Lance should be sleeping. They both should be sleeping.

Lance sighed and tucked his head back under Shiro's chin. Keith tried to roll back into the wall, and hit his head. But he continued to sleep, like nothing ever happened.

Shiro grinned and snuggled into Lance. He could still see out the window. Had Allura warped? He was sure that there had been a planet in view earlier. Just stars and dust occupied the area where it had been.

Shiro didn't worry too much over it. He secretly kept his now-retrieved bayard under his pillow, in case he needed it. Shiro sighed contentedly, and was about to close his eyes, when something moved outside the window.

What?

Shiro sat up.

Lance rolled over in his sleep and started to unconsciously pat the area where Shiro had been.

Shiro ignored him.

There was something big outside the window. He couldn't see all of it, but he could see the outline of a hull at the very top of the window. There were stars in front of it. It was far away. 

But it was  _big._

_"Shiro?"_

Lance.

Shiro looked down.

Lance had himself propped up on an elbow.

_"What are you-,"_

He yawned.

_"What are you doing?"_

Shiro quietly ran his fingers through Lance's hair. "Nothing. Go back to sleep, baby."

Lance shook his head.

_"Not without you."_

Shiro smiled. "Lance-,"

Lance smiled back.

_"Shiro."_

Lance sat up next to him.

_"What are you doing?"_

"Nothing. Really Lance, it's fine, go back to bed."

Lance frowned.

_"If it was nothing, then you would come back to bed with me."_

Shiro looked away. "It's not that simple."

Lance smiled fondly.

_"I know you, Shiro. It is. Come on. Lay back down."_

He placed a hand on Shiro's thigh.

_"Please?"_

That was the killer. Lance knew that Shiro couldn't say no when he was making that face.

Shiro rolled his eyes, but let Lance pull him down and smiled.

_"See?"_

Lance snickered.

_"This is nice."_

Shiro laughed quietly. It was.

Lance shoved his back into Shiro's chest.

_"You're warm."_

Shiro smirked. "Am I?"

Lance giggled and smirked.

_"Keith is so hhhhot."_

Shiro stroked Lance's hair. "I know."

Lance made a soft noise and drove his head under Shiro's chin.

_"I'm so cold."_

Shiro could practically hear the pout in his voice. Shiro curled around his boyfriend, in order to warm him up. "Does this help, Lance?"

_"Yes."_

They stayed silent after that. Lance squirmed and rubbed his ass against Shiro's stomach (playfully) before Lance asked:

_"Shiro?"_

He hummed.

_"Do you miss Earth?"_

Shiro looked confused. "What?"

Lance quietly rolled over and ducked his forehead under Shiro's chin. His reply came out a little muffled. 

_"Do you miss Earth?"_

Shiro frowned. "Oh, baby."

Lance, thinking he had done something wrong, tensed under Shiro's body.

Shiro kissed Lance's cowlick at the back of his head. "What's got you thinking about that?"

Lance shook his head.

Shiro smiled. "Of course I miss Earth." He pulled Lance closer, something he hadn't even known he could do. "I miss Earth more than I miss a Galra prison ship."

_"Ohmygod."_

Lance groaned.

_"Of course you do, you big baby!"_

Lance feebly hit Shiro's chest.

He chuckled. "Too much?"

Lance let out an aggravated sigh.

_"Careful, you'll wake the other person up."_

Keith mumbled angrily.

Shrio rolled over, pulling a giggling Lance over him to place him next to Keith. 

Lance smiled at Shiro, then rolled to Keith, and placed a finger on his lips.

_"Shush, Keith. Me and Shiro were having a moment."_

Keith groaned.

_"Shiro and I,"_

Lance quirked a brow. 

_"What?"_

_"It's Shiro and I, dumbass. If you're going to speak English, do it fucking right."_

Shiro placed a hand on Lance's stomach, and brushed Keith's with his fingers. "Be nice, Keith. You sound like Pidge."

Keith huffed.

_"Fuck fuck fuckiting fucking assholes. Technology, computers, innocent shit."_

Keith closed his eyes again.

_"Now I sound like Pidge."_

Lance scowled. 

_"Mojaneta,"_

Shiro snorted. 

Keith slapped Lance's shoulder. They'd both been around Lance long enough to know what that meant.

Lance fake gasped and hid his head in Shiro's shoulder. 

_"Save me, my knight. The evil troll cometh forth."_

Shiro had to hold Keith down to keep him from slapping Lance again.

_"You little bastard, I will murder you, and **leave your body for Shiro to find-!"**_

Shiro rolled his eyes. "Keith, go back to bed."

_"What? You're defending him, not me?"_

Shiro smirked. "Maybe."

_"Are you kidding me-, Shiro!"_

Keith wailed.

Shiro grabbed Lance's wandering hands by the wrist. "You kick in your sleep."

Keith scowled and flopped down into the bed.

_"Whatever."_

_"Goodnight, Keith."_

Lance sang.

Shiro kissed them both. "Go to sleep, Lance."

Lance didn't say anything but grinned at him when he laid down next to him.

Keith had already rolled back over, and told them he was leaving them both for the wall.

Lance giggled. 

_"Good luck fucking that."_

He didn't get an answer after that.

They were silent for a while after that. Lance pressed against Shiro, and before long they could hear Keith snoring again.

Lance blinked at him and moved closer to press his lips to Shiro's.

_"I love you."_

Lance was so quiet, Shiro wasn't sure that he heard him.

But then Lance repeated himself, and pressed his cheek against Shiro's chest, and slipped back into sleep, with Shiro in tow.

* * *

He groggily opened his eyes.

Shiro looked around, hoping that his nightmare had gone on for longer than just the recent.

But, there were no warm bodies next to him. Keith and Lance were gone. There wasn't even an imprint of where they could of been.

He'd just had a dream.

* * *

 

Lance was alone.

The girls in the next cell over (whom he had discovered, were, in fact, girls), had fallen asleep. They were young. They needed it.

But that also left Lance by himself, without Keith. He could hear growling(?) and occasional blabbering of other creatures communicating, but they all left it to a minimum, especially when a Galra soldier moved past.

Lance tried to make another heat pocket for himself. But it wasn't the same. Keith's body temperature was probably like, 10 degrees higher than it should be. (That would explain his temper.)

Lance also learned that there was something wrong with his leg. He had found out trying to 

It wasn't worth it.

Lance groaned and whimpered every time that he had to move his left. The source of pain was in his thigh, so he could hope that he had only bruised it.

* * *

"Lance."

Something brushed his shoulder.

"Lance, wake up."

A kiss to his cheek is what truly woke him up. Lance blinked groggily. When had he fallen asleep?

Keith was hovering over him, with his hair pulled back. That was nice.

"Lance, we have to go." Keith whispered in his ear. "They're watching me."

They?

Lance sleepily looked around. He didn't see anyone. Who was Keith talking about?

Keith sighed. "Hold on."

Arms looped around his chest, and suddenly, Lance was in the air. He was thrown around a little in Keith's arms, before Keith was holding him.

_Princess style._

Oh.

Lance understood.

He was dreaming. Keith would never hold him like this. He'd asked. Keith said he was too heavy.

Obviously this Keith had no qualms about it.

Dream logic.

Even if Lance was dreaming, he would definitely take advantage of this. He settled into Keith arms and pressed his face into Keith's... really... nice... chest...

Lance let his eyes roam. Keith was in a new shirt, which was suspiciously Galra-looking, and it wasn't a prison uniform.

Suddenly, Dream Keith started moving. Out of the cell?

Lance looked down to the ground. Why was Dream Keith taking them out of the cell?

Maybe Shiro had come?

Maybe. But that would mean that he'd come in a dream, and Lance would rather have a real Shiro.

Lance didn't think of much of Keith taking him away. Instead, he pressed his face back into Dream Keith's chest, kind of imagining that the Galra shirt was gone. That would be good, he decided.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy ****. Almost 1,000 hits?? 
> 
> ?????? 
> 
> Did I do something... Or??
> 
>  
> 
> Mojaneta is little shit in English, btw.
> 
>    
> Comments and kudos really help. The more I get, the faster I type.


	4. Sick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro is a tired bby

Keith warily looked down at Lance. His face was squished into Keith's chest, to the point where Keith was worried Lance had hurt himself. It wasn't a bad look for him, no, but something was nagging at him, telling him things were wrong.

Keith moved out into the hallway. He was partially ashamed of how he had abducted Lance without anything more of "we need to leave," and "they're watching me," because how fucked up did that sound? 

Keith ran a hand through Lance's hair. When he didn't get any sort of response, he looked up to glare at the Galra soldiers that had accompanied him to Lance's cell. "Did you drug him?"

There was a beat of silence. Then, one turned and started to walk down the hall. If there wasn't another right next to him and Lance in his arms, Keith would have flipped him off.

The other ushered Keith forward, looking back at the cell that was self-closing and the other creatures in the hallway, before muttering, "Haggar did something to the Blue Paladin, but I do not know." He looked scared. That wasn't good.

Keith glared and started to move. "Haggar said that no one would touch him _._ " Keith scowled.

"You underestimate her ability to lie."

Keith snarled. He didn't say anything back, but he would complain about this later.

Lance hummed into his chest. His broken arm was tucked up against Keith's chest, albeit awkwardly. That didn't stop his good hand from reaching up and looping around Keith's neck.

He raised an eyebrow at Lance, who was peeking out at him. Lance looked him over, before asking, "How did you get this shirt on?"

Keith frowned. "I pulled it over my head?"

"Oh," Lance's head ducked back against Keith's shirt. "That's boring."

"What?"

Lance swung his feet. Something was definitely, definitely, wrong. "My dreams are usually more exciting than this."

_What?_

"Lance, you're not dreaming." Keith shifted him around, before he was able to place a hand on Lance's forehead.  _"Holy shit."_ Keith pulled Lance more securely to his chest. "Lance, you're burning up."

Lance looked up at him.

"I'm not dreaming?"

Keith scowled.  _"What? No."_ He started to climb the stairs at the end of the hallway.  "Lance, I promise. This is real."

Lance blinked.

_"Fuck."_

"Excuse me?" Keith was really starting to get worried. 

Lance swayed in his arms. He did his best to prop himself and look over Keith's shoulder, which wasn't easy. Lance was sweating buckets, and Keith knew he must have been exhausted. 

With one look at the Galra soldier behind him, Lance fell back into Keith's arms.

 _"Fuck fuck fuck."_ Lance put a hand over his eyes.

Keith was really worried now. They reached the end of the stairway, and Keith let the Galra in front lead him around a corner.

"Lance, what's wrong?" Keith asked.

Lance dragged his palms down his face. "I was seriously hoping you were a dream."

"You've said,"

Lance interrupted him. "You're in a Galra uniform."

Keith looked away. "Yeah. I am."

Lance was shocked. Yeah, he could obviously  _see_ Keith, but he hadn't expected Keith to _just say yes._

Lance would've thrown his hands up in the air. Unfortunately, one was broken, and the other was around Keith's neck, and was the only thing keeping him from falling. There was another reason Keith didn't carry him princess-style. He was really bad at it.

 _"Why?"_ Lance blurted out. He was loud for being sick.

Keith shook his head. "Reasons."

"Is that why you took so long to come back?" Lance asked.

"Yes and no." Keith still wasn't looking at him. That couldn't be good. Lance tried to voice his thoughts, but Keith interrupted him. "I'll explain everything later, okay?" Keith gave Lance a side glance.

It was Lance's turn to look away.

"Okay."

* * *

There were books everywhere. Shiro was in the Castle's archive/database/library, combing through Altean textbooks and encyclopedia-looking things, memorizing stories that had to do with rescued Galra victims, and schematics for prison ships.  He was high strung, exhausted from the stress, and the worry. Blade members came through, to negotiate with the Princess in terms of 'rescuing the Red and Blue Paladins'. But their visits were always blurred, and he never remembered much of them. Shiro's dreams were getting worse. Most were nightmares, others were so sweet it made him want to cry when he woke up. Lance's jacket was always near him; under the table, around his waist, and on special occasions, Shiro would actually wear it. Keith's was in a bag Shiro had found, as it was too small for him to wear.

Pidge had come in more than once and told him to stop. It was unhealthy, she said. It was going to do more damage than good, she pleaded. Would he please just look at her, she screamed. A visit after that, Shiro had found a portable translator left on a book. Hunk had left a plate of food sitting on the edge of his table. Allura hadn't looked at him. He was glad.  Three days had passed, and Shiro was sure that he was going to pass out soon. He wished that Allura had told them sooner. He knew that she wished the same.

Coran's visits were few and far between.

Occasionally, he would be startled as a heavy looking book was pushed onto the table. Other times, he would flinch as the older Altean patted him on the back. There were never any words.

The Black Lion called to him more than once. She gave him the same argument as Pidge for Shiro to take care of himself. She were angry when he ignored her. Shiro couldn't find it in himself to care. He felt empty now, like a shell. He didn't eat unless one of the others was there to shove it down his throat, he didn't sleep unless they had snuck something in it.

Even that didn't bother him.

Shiro was sure that nothing would, until at the end of the third day, when Allura came in and smacked the book he'd been reading closed.

"Shiro." Allura's tone was one she used in battle. "Enough."

He shook his head. It wouldn't be enough, never enough, until Keith and Lance were back.

Allura ignored him. "We have given you time, and delayed Slav and his people's visit. We have had enough now."

We? It sounded like she was the only one annoyed.

Pidge didn't count. She was just pissed.

"They are arriving soon. Please come to the bridge with me." It was a command.

Still, Shiro did not move.

"Shiro."

Nothing.

There was one, two, three beats of silence, before, "Shiro, please. I know I have wronged you. Let me make it up to you."

Shiro gave her a glance. It was enough to know she was serious. 

"Alright." It was so quiet, part of him wished that she truly hadn't heard him.

But she did, and she smiled, weak as it was. 

"Follow me."

* * *

Holy fuck.

 _Holy_ fuck.

Keith found a bed.

"Oh my God." Lance moaned as Keith set him down. "Oh my  _God."_

Keith chuckled.

"What the fuck? Where did you even get this?" Lance motioned to the bed, then to the room that the two Galra soldiers had left them at.

"It's a long story." Keith shook his head. 

"Nope. Noope, nope, nope." Lance grabbed Keith's collar with his good arm. "You said you'd explain everything, mullet."

Keith scowled. "I told you I would tell you later."

"It is later."

Keith batted Lance's hand away. "A little more  _later,_ and your arm might get infected."

Lance sighed. "You're going to have to tell me."

"I will!" Keith argued.  There was a door at the other end of the room that Keith quickly opened, and disappeared into. He could vaguely hear the sound of water running.

Lance craned his neck to look in, but his vision was suddenly covered in blurry spots. _"Fuck."_ He hissed.

Keith heard him, and came running back. "Lance? Lance, are you okay?"

He blinked. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." 

Keith sighed in relief and bent down. "Okay, look." He held up a rag. "I need you to hold this on your arm."

Lance nodded and took it from him, before slapping it down on his wrist."What, is it poisoned?" He asked, joking.

Keith didn't seem to catch onto the 'joking' part. "What? Lance, why would I do that?" Keith looked hurt.

Lance blinked. "Oh, man, I was just kidding." He gave a weak smile and reached out to take Keith's hand with his good hand, which was a stretch. "Sorry."

Keith sighed, but smiled and placed a kiss to his forehead, before running back to what Lance assumed was some sort of bathroom.

Once he was sure Keith wasn't watching, Lance grimaced. He really didn't want Keith to see how much his arm hurt. He might try to delay an explanation further.

Keith came jogging back, this time with what was probably a medical kit. Lance instantly made his face back up to a smile, hoping and praying that he was fooling Keith. "So, whatchya got there, Mullet?"

Keith sat down next to him, and pulled his arm into his lap. "Hopefully some disinfectant." Keith pulled something out of the box, squinted at it, then put it back. He tried another, and another, before Lance stopped him. "Woah, woah, man. Are you actually _reading_ those?"

Keith noddded. 

Lance gaped. "What? Dude, when did you learn to do that?"

Keith scratched his head and bit his lip. "Shiro and I were teaching ourselves."

Lance pinched his brow. "Why wasn't I invited?"

Keith grimaced. "We were going to ask you, but Allura said she wanted you to try and learn Altean, once Pidge figured something out."

Lance felt his heart sink. "So you guys decided not to tell me?"

Keith looked down. "Shiro thought it was for the best."

Lance's mouth closed, and his jaw tightened. "Oh."

Keith held his hands up. "Look, Lance-,"

"Keith, it's okay." Lance laid back against the pillows. "Please just fix my arm."

Keith looked hurt, but did as Lance asked. He pulled the final tube out, drawing some out to put on a cloth, and wrap Lance's arms.

"Don't... Don't do anything too drastic with your arm, okay?" Keith whispered.

Lance nodded. "Yeah, sure."

Keith took the washcloth from the other side of the bed. "Here. Wash your face." He gave a half-hearted laugh. "It looks like you need it for once."

Lance didn't answer. 

Keith deflated. Wow, this hurt. "Lance, um, look, I need you-,"

There was a loud knocking at the door. "Red Paladin!"

"I need to go." He reached over to kiss Lance's forehead. "I love you, you know that, right?"

Lance nodded. 

Keith smiled, but it was forced. "Okay. I'll be back tonight." He smirked. "Hopefully with food."

Lance's stomach growled. 

Keith chuckled. "Okay. Definitely with food." One more kiss. "Don't do anything too stupid okay?"

Lance nodded.

"And don't..." Keith's mouth screwed up. "Don't forget, Shiro's coming for us."

Lance pinched his brow. "Keith..."

One more kiss, this time on the lips. "I love you."

Another bang on the door. "Red Paladin!"

Keith looked away. "Bye, Lance."

Lance blinked. "Keith?" 

He was sure Keith looked back. He was positive. But, the door closed before either of them could say anything else, which left Lance all alone, in the dark, with only druid symbols on the wall to keep him company. 


	5. Come Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is sad.

Keith didn't come back for a long time.

Lance didn't have a watch, or a clock, so he didn't have an exact time, but Keith had disappeared, and Lance was alone.

Part of him was dying for an explanation, another part of him just wanted Keith to come back and hold him.

Wait, no, no, no, no. Lance stomped that train of thought down and told it to getlost. He was _mad_ at Keith. _Keith_ knew how to read _Galran_. _Keith_ had _left him_. _Keith_ was acting like he wasn't coming back.

_Lance_ was  _mad._

_Lance_ curled up in the bed sheets. 

His left arm was still throbbing, but Keith apparently really knew his shit, because the cut had scabbed over. After he had left, Lance had grabbed the tubes and tried to make some sense of what they said, but he got nothing. 

_They didn't ask you because they didn't think you could do it._   


He shivered. That wasn't true. 

They were going to ask him to learn Altean.

_What good does that do to the team? Allura and Coran are the last two alteans. At least Keith might be hacking into a computer or something to get us out of here._   


Lance hiccuped, like he always did when something was bothering him or he was nervous. He needed to stop degrading himself like this. It wouldn't help. Keith didn't need a little chicken.

A wave of nausea hit him. His stomach had been rolling ever since Lance had shoved the medical kit off the bed, too angry and frustrated to continue making a __fool of himself.  He was starting to get a headache too, which only made his stomach worse. He was starting wondering if his arm was infected, but his thoughts were getting too jumbled for him to investigate.

Lance pulled the comforter up to his ears. He was cold. Maybe the Galra didn't need heaters with all of that fur. Maybe they liked it when it was freezing. 

Lance shivered. Didn't Keith say he had a fever? He honestly couldn't remember. 

He wished Keith would come back. Even if Lance did want to slap him, he still loved him, and Lance was pretty sure Shiro would have panic attack if Keith came back with any weird Galra juju.

He stretched his fingers. Where was Shiro? He obviously hadn't seen him and Keith be taken. Lance blushed at the idea of Shiro running around the galaxy, trying to find them. It certainly seemed like something Shiro would do.

Lance smiled into the pillow. Maybe Shiro was only a couple light years away. He imagined Shiro is his paladin armour, because _damn_  that always did things to him. He imagined Shiro asking, no, _demanding_ , that their allies help him find them.

He imagined Shiro running into the room, and picking him up, like Keith did. He imagined Shiro taking him back home to the Castle, with Keith, with Blue in her hanger, and Hunk's cooking.

"Mmm..." He murmured. Food sounded good.

Maybe that's where Keith went. Maybe the Galra uniform thing was just a joke, and Keith would come walking back in at any moment with food and more medicine.

_Hah,_ Lance thought. 

_You. Wish._   



	6. The One Where I Accidentally Wrote a Sickfic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, wow, May 3rd was the last time I updated...? How... Funny...
> 
> Special thanks to a guest (Dra) who commented and brought my attention back to this fic!

Lance was asleep when Keith came back into the room. That was good. Last he’d checked, Lance’s fever had been pretty high. Keith stepped carefully. This ship was old, and he was pretty sure he’d already woken up more than a few Galra on his way back, not that he cared about them.

Keith set the plate of food on the table the Galra had put in the corner. There were a few chairs to go with it, and a closet on the other side of the room with a few more. He assumed all of the living quarters were like this, and maybe a little more in cases with big families. It actually reminded Keith like a hotel room, cheap furniture, with a closet and a bathroom, although smaller than any hotel room he’d ever been in.

A tick later, Keith put a hand on Lance’s good shoulder and shook him gently. “Lance.” He whispered. “Lance, wake up.”

He didn’t get a reaction.

Keith pressed a kiss to his forehead, like his father always did to him when he wanted to feel his temperature. Lance was burning up.

Keith backed up, nearly stepping on the medical kit. Lance must have kicked it off the bed in his sleep. He picked it up, and grabbed a bottle that loosely read as a fever reducer. Unfortunately, the Galra didn’t have pills, as he’d found out. There was powder, and goo, which seemed to be a common liquid in space. It must be hard to eat past all of those sharp teeth.

He licked his lips, sending another look to Lance, before walking back and pouring the appropriate amount of powder into Lance’s food. They didn’t have any bread or crackers, but Lance wasn’t throwing up, yet, so Keith hoped that this would do.

After that, Keith hid the bottle, and grabbed a glass that he’d gotten when the Galra gave him food, filled it with water, and put it next to Lance’s plate.

He quietly padded back over to where Lance was sleeping, this time really trying to wake Lance up.

“Lance.” He whispered. “Lance. Wake up.”

He didn’t.

Keith sighed.

He shook Lance harder, and called out again.

Lance’s eyes opened. They were unfocused and hazy, but, admittedly, didn’t look too bad.

“Keith?”

He hummed. “I brought food.”

Lance groaned, and tried to sit up, although he was obviously struggling. Keith sympathized, and moved Lance so that he could pick him up.

“You’re getting worse.” Keith said grimly.

“Aw, babe. Nothing I can’t handle.” Lance said. His voice was hoarse. “I’ll be fine.”

“You better be.” Keith huffed as he set Lance down at the table. “Or Shiro’s going to kill me.”

“Correction.” Lance winked. “He’ll kill the Galra.”

Keith smiled as he sat down, handing Lance a spoon and rolling his eyes as Lance ate like it was the last meal he’d ever be able to have. He wasn’t gone that long, right?

Thankfully, Lance didn’t notice the medicine.

A moment later, Lance downed the enter glass of water. “More please.” He said, trying to hand the glass to Keith.

Keith sighed (and smiled a little) before ducking into the bathroom for more water. He returned, and gave the cup back to Lance, who swallowed all of it in one gulp.

They did that a few more times, until Lance didn’t need anymore and Keith wanted a drink. They ate the rest of their meal in silence. The food was okay, definitely better than what they would have gotten in the prison cell, but still not as good as Hunk’s, although that meant he was assuming he was eating the same food as everyone else on the ship, which he probably wasn’t.

Lance finished quickly. “Dammit, is there anymore? I want—,”

Keith pushed his plate to him. “Take mine,” is what he failed to say.

Lance didn’t question it.

—

“Give me your arm.” Keith said gently, after they’d finished and he’d set Lance back on the bed. “I want to look at it.”

Lance let out a breathy chuckle. “Is this the time for arm puns?”

Keith gave him A Look. “You’re just like Shiro.”

“I guess I’m just disarming, huh?”

“Correction. You’re worse than Shiro. What does that even mean?”

Lance laughed, an ‘I don’t know’ leaving his lips, but he was pretty sure that Keith smiled, though he tried to hide it.

Keith gingerly turned his arm around in his hands, running his thumb over and near the break. It hurt, but Lance trusted him.

“How does it look?”

Keith sighed. “Really bad. I’m going to have to set it.”

“What?” Lance asked. “Oh, no. No, no, no you don’t, bat boy.”

“We have to, or else it won’t heal right.” Keith scooted back farther onto the bed gently placing Lance’s arm on his thigh and reached for his leg. “I think this one needs it too.”

“Do you even know how to set bones?”

“Coran taught me how to when Hunk fell. You remember that?”

Lance nodded, biting his lip. Yes, he did.

Keith swallowed. “We have pain meds, but no anesthetic.”

“So it’s gonna hurt?”

Keith nodded. “A lot.”

“Fuck.” Lance cursed. “Can’t you just, ask your new Galra buddies for a healing pod, or something?”

Keith was Not Amused. “Yeah, and while I do that, I’ll ask for a pot of coffee too, thanks.”

“Well...!” Lance squeaked. “I’m not the one running around making new alien friends!”

Keith ignored him, and slid off the bed. “I’ll be back. I’m going to get pain killers. You’ll want them.”

Lance made a noise in the back of his throat. He wanted to trust Keith, he’d brought food and all, but there was something… Keith was acting weird.

Unfortunately, the fact that Keith was dressed in a Galran uniform only solidified that fact.

“Alright.” Keith said, sitting back down on the bed. “I’m going to take your bandage off, okay? And wipe the cut down, so it’s probably going to sting.”

Lance nodded.

Keith sighed, nervous. He carefully peeled the bandage off, making sure it didn’t get tangled or clumped together. Keith didn’t say it, but Lance assumed that it was the only bandage they had.

“Is it infected?” Lance asked.

“Only a little.” Keith said. “I bet your leg is worse.” He glanced at Lance put of the corner of his eye. “Hey.” He cooed. “It’ll be okay. Just think, by the time any of this could do any real damage, you’ll have Altean healing pods to help.”

“Yeah.” Lance sighed. That was it, he could do that, think about the beach, and Blue, and garlic knots—!

Lance cursed as Keith touched his cut with something that resembled an alcohol swab. (It was green, but that was probably normal, right?) It stung a lot more than it probably should have. Maybe it was something a little stronger? Either way it really hurt and Lance wanted Keith to finish.

Except, he kept stopping.

“What’s going on?” Lance asked.

“Your suit keeps getting in the way.” Keith informed him. He struggled for a little bit more, but then there was a _rip_ as Keith tore the sleeve off. “I hope that wasn’t important,”

Lance laughed. “I bet Allura’s going to have your ass when he get back.”

Keith rolled his eyes, finished cleaning his arm in no time, now that the sleeve was gone. Lance sighed in relief when Keith moved away, his lack of body heat letting the cold air of the room run over his arm and ease the sting.

It didn’t last long, though. Keith came back almost immediately with a grim expression.

“Okay, Lance. I’m going to set your arm.” Keith sighed, sitting on the bed. He held up a thick piece of cloth. “Do you want this?”

Lance nodded.

Keith swallowed and pushed it into his good hand, waiting for Lance to put it in his mouth.

“You ready?”

“As ready as I ever will be.”

Keith nodded. His hands grabbed either side of the break, firmly, but still as gently as he’d been before. He pushed with one hand, pulled with another, and Lance knew there should have pain, but it didn’t come through. Then, there was a loud ‘ _crunch_ ’, and yeah, Keith was right, that hurt.

Lance bit down on the cloth, and resisting the urge to yell.

Keith was bringing heavily. “Dammit.” He looked up, and brushed a stray tear away from Lance’s face. “It’s still not there. I have to do it again.”

Lance nodded.

Keith bit his lip, and pushed again. There wasn’t any noise this time, but Lance felt something slide. That was a pain all in it’s own.

When Keith let go, he inspected Lance one more time before standing. “Good. You’re good, Lance.”

Lance nodded. Tears were flowing freely now, and Keith gave him a worried glace before retreating back to the bathroom with the bandage in hand.

Lance took the gag out upon hearing the sound of water running, before Keith came back, holding something that looked strangely like a—

“A splint?” Lance asked hoarsely.

“I know, right? You’d think they’d have something more advanced.” Keith laughed a little. “I have one for your leg, too.”

Lance gave a thumbs up. “Great.” He hurt.

Keith sighed, and placed the splint on the table next to the bed. He knelt next to the bed, taking Lance’s face into his hands. “Are you okay?”

Lance swallowed, and pushed His head against his boyfriend’s. “I’m fantastic. What did Shiro say, on that planet you guys got stranded on?”

“I want you to lead Voltron?”

“No, before that. My wound’s getting bigger everyday?”

Keith chuckled. “Oh, yeah. That was pretty stupid. I was worried about him.”

Lance smiled gently. “Yeah.”

Keith smirked. “What did that mermaids girl say to me, about how you talk in your sleep?”

“Plaxum told you about that?”

“Oh, yeah. I don’t need pants, I’m a mermaid.”

“Shut up!”

Keith laughed, stood, and kissed the top of his head.

Keith made Lance sit up while he adjusted the splint. Lance’s head rested on his shoulder, watching Keith.

“This is all pretty fucked up, huh?”

“Yeah.” Keith sighed. “This is pretty fucked up.”

“What do you think Shiro’s doing right now?” Lance said.

“I don’t know.”

“Then imagine!”

“He’s probably sleeping right now, actually.”

“Really? What time is it?”

“About 4 a.m.”

“Oh.” Lance frowned. They were silent for a moment, before: “Are you leaving again?”

“In about two hours.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.” Keith whispered, starting to bandage around the splint.

“Keith?”

“Yea?”

“You’re not… Doing anything, bad for the Galra, are you?”

“It depends on what you call bad, Lance.”

“Keith.”

Keith sighed. “I’ll tell you later, Lance.”

“It is later!”

“Not later enough!”

Lance huffed. “You know, you not telling me makes me suspicious.”

“Oh, suspicious of what, Lance?”

“I don’t know! Maybe,” Lance sucked in a breath. “Maybe you’re not the real Keith.”

The look Keith gave him was enough to confirm, that yes, this was the real Keith, but the next move was just a little too far.

“The first time we all had sex, you let Shiro fuck you first, and when you came you called him Takashi and he called you Kitten.”

Lance blanched. “ _What the crow,_ _Keith_?”

His boyfriend shrugged, and tried to hide his smile. Lance squawked as he got off the bed, yelling at him to get his butt back here, only to be ignored.

“If I come back, you won’t get pain meds!”

Lance crossed his arms, looking down at the sheets and mumbling to himself, “ _If_ I _come back you won’t get your pain meds!”_

Keith heard him, an Lance apparently did a great job of pissing him off, because he heard a more than a few curses coming from the bathroom.

Lance laughed to himself, momentarily forgetting about the Galra and Voltron, and for a second, even Shiro.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously, guys, if I ever take a two month break again, you can usually get me to come back with a nice comment...
> 
> My Tumblr: www.lukewarmravensinatub.turmblr.com
> 
> Come talk to me about Voltron, this fic, Shance, Sheith, whatever!

**Author's Note:**

> Wow...
> 
> You stayed? 
> 
> Do you need help?
> 
> —


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